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FOREST SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION: ACCOUNTING FOR THIS VITAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICE
Citation:
JOHNSON, M. G. FOREST SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION: ACCOUNTING FOR THIS VITAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICE. Presented at Annual Soil Science Society of America Meeting, New Orleans, LA, November 04 - 08, 2007.
Impact/Purpose:
This presentation will examines questions for the purpose of quantifying the amount and quality of carbon held in forested soils and for estimating the potential for additional carbon sequestration.
Description:
Forests play a crucial role in supplying many goods and services that society depends upon on a daily basis including water supply, production of oxygen, soil protection, building materials, wildlife habitat and recreation. Forests also provide a significant amount of carbon sequestration, both aboveground and belowground. This service is often overlooked but underpins many of the other goods and services provided by forests. When forests burn or are harvested, a large amount of the sequestered carbon is released to the atmosphere. There is much discussion about promoting carbon sequestration in forests to offset atmospheric carbon dioxide by offering some sort of incentives via direct payments or carbon credits. This proposition raises a number of questions. For example, what is the best way to determine the quantity and quality of carbon in soils? How much carbon can a soil sequester? How fast can that carbon be sequestered? How stable is soil carbon? What proportion of soil carbon is labile and how much is recalcitrant? Is soil carbon in deciduous forests different than that in coniferous forests? This presentation will examine these and other questions for the purpose of quantifying the amount and quality of carbon held in forested soils and for estimating the potential for additional carbon sequestration.